The Captain's Tale
by AnonymousLily
Summary: The captain has an idea for a story for Carolyn to write- the story of a sea captain and his wife.
1. Chapter 1

(DG refers to Captain Daniel Gregg, CM refers to Carolyn Muir.)

DG: "Madam, I have an idea for a story."

CM: "You do! I'm tapped out at the minute, so give!"

DG: "There's a lovely blonde woman, a widow . . ."

CM: "Her name had best not be Carolyn Muir."

DG: "As you wish, my dear. Her name is Jane. Perhaps Jane Jones."

CM: "A little common, but nice alliteration. How'd her husband die?"

DG: "It's not necessary to the tale. He left her with two charming children, which is all that matters."

CM: "A girl and a boy by any chance?"

DG: "Of course not! Two lads in dire need of masculine influence."

CM: "So will it be a romance?"

DG: "Who is providing the story, Madam? Just follow me."

CM: "So we have this lovely widow in dire need of a man . . ."

DG: "You said it, not I."

CM: "I meant the boys are in dire need of male influence."

DG: "As you wish. She moves from the city to a small coastal community . . ."

CM: "And rents a place named Gull Cottage haunted by a dashing and heroic ghost of a sea captain!"

DG: "No! She BUYS a small nameless house that overlooks the sea."

CM: "That's nice that she has the money to buy a place. Does she have a housekeeper and a dog?"

DG: "No, my dear. She has two cats and a lizard."

CM: "A lizard?"

DG: "She has two sons who like that sort of thing, besides which she's eccentric herself."

CM: "Does she actually like the lizard?"

DG: "She's creative, an artist in fact. It's a chameleon and she likes to watch it change color."

CM: "So she has a lizard but no housekeeper. What kind of art, and does she sell what she makes?"

DG: "She paints beautifully and occasionally sells portraits."

CM: "So she paints people."

DG: "No, she paints pictures of people. And don't stick your tongue out at me like that."

CM: "There's no ghost in this story?"

DG: "She's looking out to sea when a ship passes closely to shore, manned by a virile Captain."

CM: "An actual man, not a ghost?"

DG: "Precisely. She sees him and knows she must paint that magnificent man."

CM: "It is a love story! She falls in love with him when she first sees him!"

DG: "Oddly enough, she doesn't. Eccentric she may be, but not foolhardy."

CM: "I don't think I like her."

DG: "You're the writer, my dear. I'm sure you're talented enough to make her likeable."

CM: "Maybe she has a limp from rescuing a child from a burning building."

DG: "No, her legs are perfect."

CM: "Why thank you, Daniel."

DG: "Madam, I am talking about a character! Now attend to the story!"

CM: "Aye, aye, Captain. So she meets this virile specimen of manliness in town and is disappointed to

discover he constantly gives orders, even when he's not commanding a ship."

DG: "Not at all. In fact, she finds him charming and quite likeable. She had tracked him down to ask if

he'd pose for a portrait."

CM: "Accustomed to strange women asking him to pose for portraits, he kindly agrees."

DG: "Unaccustomed to beautiful female artists, he's quite flattered and agrees. Over time while posing for

her in the room she had handily converted to a studio, he comes to admire her despite her lapses in

manners and taste."

CM: "Lapses in manners and taste? Maybe I do like her after all. What sort of lapses?"

DG: "The lizard, my dear. Sometimes she might bicker a bit, being a bit headstrong, and perhaps once she

stuck her tongue out at him."

CM: "Right. And the captain is always a perfect gentleman."

DG: "Always, although he tends to get carried away in regaling her with tales of his brave exploits. He

might even have a bit of a temper."

CM: "No, a bit of a temper? Never!"

DG: "He might even, on rare occasion, stare at her in a longing fashion that could be misconstrued as

ogling."

CM: "She of course never notices those looks."

DG: "She does notice, as does he notice her longing stares which are well covered by the alibi of an artist.

Suddenly the taxes on her seaside home are raised beyond what she can afford."

CM: "Naturally he saves the day."

DG: "He does indeed, Madam. He offers to take her, the boys, and her zoo on board his ship. They will

travel to exotic ports and she'll expand to painting beautiful pictures of scenery. He will experience

bliss just to have her by his side in his element."

CM: "Oh, I do like that story!"

DG: "That's chapter one, my dear, it should end on his invitation to board ship. After you've typed that up,

we'll move on to chapter two."

CM: "They're deeply in love, right?"

DG: "As you wish."

CM: "They're your characters! Are they in love or not?"

DG: "A man and a woman like that, both in their prime, I'd have to say they are. Why else would he have

asked her to come with him, and why would she have gone?"

CM: "I might need a pen name for this."

DG: "Zade (short for Sheherezade) Daniels."

CM: "Your first name as the surname sounds good. I'm not sure about Zade. Do you have a 1001 more

tales like this?"

DG: "I have no ship and no body but an illusion. These tales are all I have to give you."

CM: "Perhaps after I type it up I should keep it rather than try and publish it. Perhaps some tales are too

precious to share."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Revision

DG: "I revised your story a bit."

CM: "Which translates to your changing everything?"

DG: "Hardly. Read it."

CM: "What's this? Jane wears bloomers to bicycle to town, and shocks the townsfolk? She also is

outspoken in her belief that women should be allowed to vote? You've got the wrong century,

Captain."

DG: "No, Madam, YOU had the wrong century. I have no idea if current captains are allowed to take a

whole family aboard."

CM: "Daniel, would a captain of your century be allowed to take a whole family on board?"

DG: "In addition, I haven't seen the upcoming exotic locales in over a century. We need realism."

CM: "It's a made up story! It doesn't have to be factual!"

DG: "You are aware that Candy, Jonathon, and I try not to miss Star Trek."

CM: "It's my weekly hour of complete peace. I'm sure on your part it's because of the space faring angle

and not scantly clad women with that captain."

DG: "None of them as lovely as you, my dear. Those stories' premise is based on supposition, and yet

Candy bitterly complained of an episode- something about clouds and mines- in which the pointy eared

fellow flirted like a human."

CM: "You need to connect the dots for me. What does an alien flirting have to do with fact or fiction?"

DG: "Even a child can recognize when the internal logic of a story goes awry."

CM: "That's cute, Captain- Spock and the logic thing. So what is the internal logic of this story that has

gone awry?"

DG: "The term 'cute' is below the water mark!"

CM: "Sorry."

DG: "I was going to use actual events from my life as a basis for Jane and Captain Williams stories."

CM: "Oh, like in Maiden Voyage or the time you destroyed a tattoo parlor?"

DG: "Not exactly those stories, but you understand."

CM: "Good idea!"

DG: "I know. Read on, my dear."

CM: "What's this scene you added? It seems pretty racy even for this century! Skinny dipping in the

moonlight?"

DG: "Perhaps we should save that for a later story."

CM: "You get upset when I wear a one piece to sunbathe, and Jane just rips off her clothes and joins the

captain?"

DG: "Not all cultures in my era required swim wear."

CM: "They're in Maine!"

DG: "Cut it, but save it."

CM: "Agreed. Wow, that's the quickest marriage scene I've ever read! One sentence? I think it needs

fleshing out."

DG: "I won't comment on your choice of words. Given the era, he couldn't very well travel with a widow;

he's merely protecting her reputation."

CM: "How about a moonlight wedding?"

DG: "As you wish. Captain Williams wouldn't care. Perhaps the lizard could be best man since you

include it in so many scenes."

CM: "Captain, I've come to love that lizard."

DG: "Do you now? Perhaps a monkey could be added."

CM: "I think a lizard suffices."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Bickering and Negotiation

DM: "I believe this draft will do. Shall we move on to Chapter Two? Jane will be introduced to life on board."

CM: "You're not going to say anything about the wedding scene?"

DM: "Quite touching. Perhaps a bit lengthy, though."

CM: "You're just mad the lizard wasn't the best man. So they board the ship."

DM: "They do. Of course there's bickering over how many trunks of clothing and personal items she and the boys need."

CM: "It's labor intensive to wash clothes without running water."

DM: "There wasn't running water ashore either."

CM: "And she didn't have a housekeeper? It's a wonder she had any time to paint!"

DM: "He convinces her to wear less clothes on board."

CM: "Captain, I'm shocked!"

DM: "Wear less in terms of petticoats, corsets, and such."

CM: "That I don't mind."

DM: "Neither did Jane, being a free spirit. It saves space in the trunks. She also knows from living in that era that clothes can be re-worn a number of days without washing."

CM: "One word: yuck."

DM: "Not skivvies, you understand, just the top level. I suspect it best if we omit details about bathing."

CM: "I suspect you're right. Does she need to bring food?"

DM: "The rations on board will do so long as she isn't expecting much. Since she never had a housekeeper, the fare on board will probably resemble what she served ashore."

CM: "Are you implying I'm not a good cook?"

DM: "Never! Jane, however, was a terrible cook. It didn't matter to the captain, though."

CM: "How progressive of him."

DM: "Yes, wasn't it though? After much bickering and negotiation, they board the ship. The lads will bunk with the crew while Mrs. Muir will share the captain's stateroom."

CM: "Mrs. Muir?"

DM: "I meant to say Mrs. Jones. No, what's her name now? I meant Mrs. Williams. Blast it, you know who I mean!"

CM: "No need to get worked up, Daniel. What's his stateroom like?"

DM: "He has two cabins in the stern, the cabin where he sleeps and an office; they're small but private. It will be a bit of a squeeze for her as she's accustomed to room sizes ashore. The cats will have free run of the ship- they'll feast on the rats below. She'll probably want the chameleon in the cabin with her, lest it get stepped on."

CM: "This sounds less and less romantic. That poor lizard squeezed in a tiny room!"

DM: "Cabin, Madam. She hears the waves slapping against the hull as the deck rolls underfoot. As an artist, she'll note how the patterns of shadow and light dance with the rocking of the ship. The wind whistles through the rigging and perhaps some dolphins leap in the wake of the ship, playfully following. The captain and she share a glass of wine while watching the sunset. They stroll the decks up to the forecastle under a canopy of stars."

CM: "That's more like it- more romance, less fact. If the ship sets sail in the morning, and they had a moonlight wedding, where did they bunk the night before?"

DM: "You need to change it to a dawn wedding."

CM: "You determined to shorten the wedding scene! Fine. How will he introduce her to the crew?"

DM: "As his wife."

CM: " I mean how do they take to having a woman aboard?"

DM: "The captain is a firm leader."

CM: "Oh dear. That sounds like a tactful version of the rats below decks."

DM: "Madam, a ship needs a firm leader, preferably the captain. The crew aren't brigands or scoundrels on this voyage. They're men in a man's world."

CM: "Couldn't there be other females on board?"

DM: "Both cats. Change Jasper's name to Jasmine."

CM: "I mean of the human variety."

DM: "They're seamen, not sea people, my dear. It's not a passenger ship and the married crew can't bring along their wives, only the captain has the authority to do that."

CM: "Just one crew member? Please?"

DM: "Let me think for a minute."

CM: "It's been more than a minute."

DM: "Internal logic. How about if the cook is a woman disguised as a man? I believe there had once been female pirates who disguised themselves as men."

CM: "Back to females and cooking. You just don't let up! And all these manly men wouldn't recognize a female in men's clothing?"

DM: "She's a giant, tall, portly, almost apple shaped, with an unusually deep voice for a woman."

CM: "Why would she disguise herself as a man?"

DM: "To be a crew member."

CM: "I know! But why would she want to be a crew member?"

DM: "Because you won't allow Jane to be the only blasted woman on the ship!"

CM: "How about this: as a girl she was a slave in Georgia. She killed her master, ran, disguised herself, and signed on to a ship as a cabin boy to avoid the law- she could be punished even in a free state for murder. She loved the freedom of the sea and kept signing on."

DM: "Will she suffice or will Jane need more murderous feminine companionship?"

CM: "She'll do. Will Jane become friends with her?"

DM: "As you wish. Perhaps she will aid in improving Jane's cooking skills. In fact, she may also love lizards."

CM: "You seem to have a thing about lizards, Captain."

DM: "Thing? That's rather imprecise language for a writer."

CM: "Fixation."

DM: "Jane and you adore the blasted thing! I confess to being perplexed. I've gone so far as to contemplate giving you a real lizard as a gift."

CM: "The one in the story changes color, you know. It's no garden variety lizard."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 A Tangled Web

DG: "The previous chapter worked rather well, but I've added a few minor items."

CM: "Let me see. Why on earth does he send his own stepson up the rigging? There's adults on board who can do the dangerous climbing! Why give both boys knives? They could hurt themselves!"

DG: "Read on, my dear."

CM: "Hah! Jane sounds just like me! Oh Daniel, this is good- the whole private conversation- undermining authority- cutting knots in case of emergency. And this about the first mate as well. Hey, why'd you cut out so much of the cook?"

DG: "Jane might have become friends with her in time, but the friendship seemed too rapid and forced in this early chapter. It was enough Jane learned she was a woman, although the honorable thing for her to have done would be to inform her husband of this fact."

CM: "The friendship develops too quickly, but Jane met and married the captain in one chapter? Besides, I thought he knew."

DG: "There's no indication of that in the story."

CM: "Read between the lines. He grimaces when he learns how much time she's spent in the galley while he's busy with command."

DG: "Not clear enough. He might have thought Jane was cooking."

CM: "Below the water line!"

DG: "Perhaps you're right, my dear. But did you note all the compliments the captain gave Jane that I added?"

CM: "Yes, but I'm not confusing them as compliments meant for me."

DG: "The feminine mind baffles me. So why take offense about Jane's cooking?"

CM: "So all those compliments were meant for me, not Jane?"

DG: "We're entering uncharted waters of philosophy and art, but yes, my dear, just as Captain Elijah Williams said those things and meant them, I pictured you in my mind."

CM: "That's one of the most round about and loveliest things I've ever heard. I wish we could include it in the story."

DG: "It's your story, my dear. Add footnotes that read 'Daniel Gregg was thinking of Carolyn Muir when he wrote this.'"

CM: "Perhaps we should add lizard footnotes that read 'Carolyn Muir loves Daniel Gregg's playful side,' not actual lizards."

DG: "What a tangled web of metaphor we weave. At this rate, we'll never get to China, even in the fastest of clipper ships."

CM: "Captain, we have all the time in the world. It's a story; the foodstuffs won't spoil."


	5. Chapter 5

*Much gratitude to April who literally rescued this story from a dead end! It was her idea to weave in actual story with the dialogue.*

Chapter 5 A Very Tasteful Honeymoon

DG: "Madam, we've omitted a very important aspect to Jane's introduction to life on board as Elijah's bride. Don't blush, my dear, it's quite tame."

CM: "You already wrote it?"

DG: "You may change it as you please. I'll leave it here for you to read."

I Am My Beloved's and My Beloved Is Mine

As Jane and Elijah walk the deck under a waxing moon, he takes her arm, providing support as the ship bucks, for she had yet to gain her sea legs. The wind tenderly disarrays her hair, tendrils escaping from her bun. He desires to remove each hair pin, each shred of propriety; finally she is his and all that he had wished to bestow upon her is possible. She looks at him, her green eyes beacons. "Perhaps we should tuck in Charles and James?"

He had planned to take her next to his cabin, but of course she must worry about the two lads. "If we tuck them in, my dearest, in all fairness we might have to tuck in all the younger men on board. I'll have Smithwick bring the boys to us."

He watches her listening to the boys' chatter, only half listening himself. Of all the beautiful women he had known before, never before had one seemed quite so feminine. It was as if all those women in his past had been shadows cast by candlelight, and this woman, ( bending down to ruffle Charlie's hair and hug James) the origin of all the beauty and grace he had ever witnessed.

He steps in to wish the lads a goodnight, telling them both they'd made an honorable showing of themselves this first day on board. She smiles at him, a devastating smile, one reserved for him alone. As the lads depart, he tells her, "They'll be fine. The second mate has agreed to bunk in the crew's quarters tonight to keep an eye on them. Shall we retire?"

She nods, "I know they'll be fine, but it was thoughtful of you to arrange for Ben to keep watch on them." He smiles down at her, wondering what she's thinking, wondering if her heart is beating as rapidly as his. He leads her to his cabin, lifts her up in his arms, and carries her through the doorway. He sets her down but can not unhand her. He disrobes her, her garments falling to the deck, her skin like pearls. She whispers, "Wait," and blows out the lone candle. Wanton she was in the gasping darkness.

CM: "Daniel? Hey, Captain?"

DM: "You've set it down. Do you like it or must we water it down?"

CM: "It's lovely- I do like it. It may be a bit short for a whole chapter, though. Also, it seems to be entirely from his point of view- a bit of a departure from the previous chapters."

DM: "Simply graft it to Chapter Two. Perhaps you could add her point of view. I'd like to read that."

CM: "It's very tender. You used Song of Soloman for the title?"

DG: "I did. It's my seventh draft. I suspect you might not have liked the earlier versions so much, although they would have served for an entire chapter."

CM: "Perhaps I could read an earlier draft? I think. Wait, maybe not. That grin on your face is rather alarming."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Succor

DG: "Shall we re-board, Madam? The sky is cloudless, the sail is taut, and the last log line reading shows we're traveling two knots faster than our previous record."

CM: "What lovely flowers, Captain! What's the occasion?"

DG: "I appreciated Jane's view of her wedding and bedding- 'his firm arm,' 'intoxicatingly masculine,' 'honeyed lips'- quite a kiss you added before she blew out the candle! Carolyn?"

CM: "I'm still recovering from 'wedding and bedding."

DG: "Are you now?"

CM: "I meant the phrase, Captain!"

DG: "As you wish. You might wish to look over my earlier drafts as they give clearer dimensions of the captain's quarters."

CM: "Then again, I might not. What happens next?"

DG: "Jane quite enjoys being on board with her handsome husband, but as he often has ship's business to attend to, leaving her to her own resources, her friendship with Cal the cook deepens as the two discuss . . . whatever it is that women discuss."

CM: "They discuss day to day life aboard, their histories, how impossible men can be."

DG: "Don't forget your own writing my dear- remember 'intoxicatingly masculine' before Jane discusses men. Jane decides to paint portraits of the crew so they can leave them with their mothers, favorite sweethearts, or wives the next time they voyage. Elijah gives her a shipboard duty- she's to take over the captain's medical chest and attend to wounds or illness among the seamen. She learns from reading his medical texts and even cures Smithwick's dropsy by making an elixir of the Peruvian bark he had stowed in the chest."

CM: "I hope it doesn't effect Smithwick like your willow bark elixir did me. They don't have a doctor onboard?"

DG: "It's a merchant ship, not naval or passenger- so they have no ship's surgeon."

CM: "What if someone is seriously injured?"

DG: "They live or they die. At least on the Magdalena they'll be cosseted by a beautiful woman rather than a stern captain. Now may I continue without interruption?"

CM: "I think Jane should learn navigation."

DG: "Navigation, Madam? Why would a woman want to do that?"

CM: "Well she's taken over one ship's duty and she likes to learn. Why not?"

DG: "Fine. Elijah cordially teaches her at her request and even shows the boys simpler steps like shooting the sun. The first time she figures the longitude within a degree of Elijah's figuring, he takes her in his arms, leans her backwards, and kisses her passionately."

CM: "On deck? In front of the crew?"

DG: "Another interruption? Why shouldn't he kiss her? They're married. I doubt the crew would object, although they might envy him. Their respect for him may even increase, given what a beauty she is."

CM: "A tactical kiss is hardly romantic!"

DG: "It was not intended as tactical, merely a celebration of her grasping a difficult task. I hope her math is good. You know, my dear, my earlier wedding night drafts were teeming with romance and tenderness."

CM: "Maybe later I'll look. What happens next?"

DG: "They round the Cape of Good Hope, having experienced no squalls, a rare occurrence for the Atlantic. They meet a whaler and drop anchor to signal any news; the captain on that ship has been seriously injured."

CM: "So they hook the two boats together and Jane doctors him!"

DG: "Elijah would never risk sending Jane to a strange ship. Who knows what manner of men man her? He and a few fiercely loyal and armed crewmen take a dinghy over. The captain on that ship had been harpooned through the midsection; the mutineers responsible had already been flogged and put in chains. That captain's open wound reeks of death, so all he can do is give him laudanum and instruct the second mate how to ease his passing. He directs the second mate to start studying that captain's medical handbook as well, as the first mate already has too much on his plate. They return to the Magdalena, where Jane awaits her husband, concerned and curious. She provides succor for her husband, reminding him to be grateful they're alive, healthy, and able to touch one another."

CM: "Did something like that happen to you?"

DG: "Exactly like that, but lacking any succor."

CM: "I hadn't realized captains acted as doctors in those day."

DG: "Jacks of all trades by necessity, my dear. Type that up and I believe Chapter 3 is complete."

CM: "And Jane loves him all the more for trying to help a man who wasn't technically his responsibility."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Shirtless

DG: "Madam, I am outraged!"

CM: "About what?"

DG: "Let me read:

"Mrs. Captain, at home we do not cover our bodies in shame. I do not wish to be a seaman in this picture; I want to be like at home, for when she looks at the picture.'

Jane looks into Wynono's dark eyes then glances away, uncomfortable but also wishing she could paint his portrait as he wished. Whoever the 'she' he referred to was, clearly a portrait of him fully clothed would mean less to her than a portrait of him seemingly at home. She looks back at him and says, 'I'll paint you barechested but no more unclothed than that.' He nods, removes his shirt, gratitude in his eyes now. Brush in hand, a bit self conscious, she thinks how to catch the copper gleam of his skin, his youth (just passed boyhood really), and the chiseled muscles of his smooth chest and abdomen.'

I am shocked, Madam!"

CM: "So she paints a kid with his shirt off. She didn't paint him nude."

DG: "She wanted to! 'Copper gleam of his skin,' 'chiseled muscles' - most unladylike!"

CM: "Unladylike? What about the skinny dipping scene YOU wrote in which Elijah was just a blur running in to the waves while Jane's body was described in detail!"

DG: "She had more complicated clothes to remove than he did. The man Wynono is based on had four wives as well!"

CM: "Four wives? And he was that young? You omitted that juicy little detail."

DG: "That blasted scene should never have been written!"

CM: "A painting, Captain. That's all. A story. She felt maternal toward him because of his youth and his homesickness. There was no intoxicating masculinity, no passionate kissing."

DG: "Very clever explanation, my dear, but insufficient."

CM: "You wanted her on medical duty, and she is. Bear with me, I'm just trying to understand the outrage. So if, for example, a seaman needs stitching for a wound on some part of the body you deem inappropriate, Jane will just sew through his clothes?"

DG: "Show a woman a seaman's medical handbook, and she becomes a lawyer. There will be no wounds in this whole story which require her to do so!"

CM: "Apparently I should just stick to the outline you provide without filling in any blanks. Why not write it yourself? You could, you know."

DG: "I may. Ask yourself this, would Jane have painted the man shirtless if he resembled a walrus? Or worse, a double for Claymore?

CM: "She would if there was reason enough; she has a bit of a soft spot for seaman because of the captain. Although honestly Captain, I don't think a 'she' back home would prefer a shirtless portrait in that case. I think it wise you gave Jane the ship's surgeon role when I remember the time poor Claymore hurt his neck and had to stay here."

DG: "He was malingering, the spineless jellyfish! I was very kind to that worthless barnacle! Stop laughing!"

CM: "I'm trying!"

DG: "The rest of the chapter was acceptable, although perhaps I will write the next one myself."

CM: "I'm looking forward to reading it. Don't forget to include Jane's point of view, though."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 The Chicken and the Law

DG: "Shall I read you the next chapter?"

CM: "I love to hear you read, please do!"

DG: "Chapter 4, A Missing Chicken."

CM: "Missing chicken? I'm confused!"

DG: "You won't be. Please be gracious enough to avoid interrupting me."

CM: "Aye, aye, Captain."

"The captain wakes to the first grey light of dawn illuminating Jane, her hair loose and disheveled, a ghost of a smile on her lips. He'd rouse her to welcome a new day with him, but she'd been up late, so he abstains. He sighs and carefully untangles himself from her arms, the place he'd most like to stay, and rises. He dons his clothes, planning a salt water wash later, all to appeal to his fastidious lady. She'd have everyone on board use up the fresh water stores on bathing if allowed.

The wind on deck is bracing, but the sails aren't fully gathering its strength. He orders adjustments, watching crew men scramble up the ratlines, and then proceeds to gather status reports. All seems unremarkable and satisfactory, until Cal waves him over to the galley where she is preparing breakfast. He approaches, believing she may have some new idea on improving the palatability of the fare, but no, she tells him a chicken is missing from the coop, one of the best layers in fact.

It's a blow, and not just because a seaman dared to steal from the crew as a whole on his ship. If the scoundrel attempts cooking hidden somewhere outside the galley, the attempt could easily lead to a ship's fire, every seafarer's worst nightmare. He needs to immediately calculate the Magdalena's position and the nearest landing. He'll need to investigate then, discover what bilge rat took it, and punish him. Cal hisses, 'Thrash the bastard, sir!' She might have been reading his mind.

Below decks Jane wakes to a blazingly bright morning. Determined to get up, instead she falls into a half doze, the ship's rocking inducing slumber. She'd been up in the small hours of the night, directing men how to reset a bone, then splinting the broken arm and having the poor fellow drink a mending tea. Applegate was the clumsiest man she'd ever met; this time he'd fallen down an open hatch. She pitied him too, as he was an easy target for jests, and tried to lift his spirits. She had left Elijah sleeping soundly. When she returned, she found him reading Chaucer and chuckling. She had asked, 'What's the joke?'

He told her 'don't ask what was bequeathed to the church, my dear. It's humor of the lowest form. Please tell me it wasn't Applegate again!' They discussed it and retired again. If she weren't such a lady, she'd ask him to allow her to paint his bare manly form.

The sounds in the next cabin jolt her out of pleasant daydreams. She slips on a chemise and peeks out to see Elijah pouring over charts, muttering about winds and Java Head. She greets him with a kiss, and he tells her, 'Not the best of mornings, love. Forgive me but I have much to do.' She smiles and nods."

CM: "She smiles and nods and doesn't ask anything?"

DG: "She's probably thinking of shirtless seamen."

CM: "Enough is enough! You're being childish about all this!"

DG: "Madam, I'll leave this for you to finish reading yourself. Do with it as you please as I'm tired of interruptions."

CM: "Don't just disappear! Daniel? Blast! Fine, I'll read it myself without benefit of his voice. Where did he stop? Here it is- blasted smile and nod!"

He sends Pierce up to the crows nest on land watch and begins the tedious process of investigation. The first two seaman meet his eye without flinching, clearly honest regarding their ignorance of the matter. The next man tells him he thought he might have heard clucking from the cargo hold, but had thought nothing of it at the time. Again the man's eyes reveal truth when he claims to know nothing else about the matter.

Elijah finds the chicken, one end of a rope tied to its leg, the other tied to a post, the two cats sitting watching it, surrounded by broken eggshell. He retrieves it and sends both his step sons to clean up the eggshell and keep an eye out for suspects in the hold. He continues questioning into the afternoon when finally one man tells him Adams had taken the fowl. He demands, "How do you know?"

"Skuttlebutt, sir!"

At least he knows who to question next. The whining sea slug Adams wilts under his eye and confesses, "I did. I'm hungry, tired, my time spent either overworked or bored. I want to go home where I don't see weevils crawling in my bread, where I don't have to add rum to water to drink it, where my clothes aren't stiff from dried salt water, and where I can escape thunderous snoring when I attempt to sleep!"

Elijah bellows, "You worthless vermin! Ten lashes will teach you the true meaning of discomfort!" He orders the bosun to mete out the punishment, although he doesn't order the crew to watch. Skuttlebutt will supply all the deterrent necessary. A man who steals food is completely devoid of honor. Elijah has known actual hunger and the ensuing weakness due to catastrophe on a ship, but he proved his strength even while physically weak.

That night after dinner and the lads left their cabin, Jane glares at him and says, "Lashing is inhuman!"

He tells her, "A mere ten lashes? General practice calls for twelve lashes for a stolen chicken."

She adds, "Any lashing at all is uncivilized!"

Angry over his inconveniently beautiful wife's arguing a command issue, he calmly tells her, "As would be allowing pilfering to cut honest men's, boys', and even women's rations! On this ship I am the law, and lax law leads to an anarchy of criminal behavior."

CM: "Hmph. I'm surprised he didn't have her smile vacuously and nod again."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 So Be It

CM: "Captain? It's been almost a week since I've seen you! Daniel, I know you can hear me. Okay, listen up. I don't care if you give me the silent treatment; I'm a big girl; I can take it. You have no right to turn your back on the kids after you've wormed your way into their hearts! They've already lost their father, don't make them relive that experience! Still hiding? For your information, I had to watch this week's blasted episode of Star Trek, and now I have a crush on Mr. Spock!"

DG: "You don't!"

CM: "You're right, I don't, but Candy sure does. No wonder she's such a keen critic of his flirting. It sort of worries me that she has a crush on him . . . .

DG: "Madam, I have been a bit amiss in spending time with the children, but I have by no means 'turned my back' on them. For your information, Candy's chess game has improved so I need spot only a queen to her. Jonathon has informed me in great detail what occurred in the Star Trek episode I missed."

CM: "Thank goodness! I should have realized."

DG: "As for Candy's crush, you needn't worry. She's like her mother, tender hearted for those out of their element."

CM: "If mermaids exist and Jonathon ever sees one- is it a Muir tendency? So you're talking to me again?"

DG: "So it would appear."

CM: "You had chickens aboard?"

DG: "For fresh eggs and then the meat. It varied the fare."

CM: "Someone once stole a chicken under your command?"

DG: "One of the few thefts I dealt with as a captain."

CM: "It was interesting."

DG: "But not romantic."

CM: "Chickens and lashing are somewhat . . . factual."

DG: "I told you to do with it as you please, which includes revision."

CM: "Good! Here's my version with only a few minor changes."

DG: "You deleted Elijah's plan to wash and the aside about her using up the fresh water if allowed?"

CM: "More information than needed."

DG: "Ah, you've matched my final draft of the wedding night scene- after she splints Applegate's arm!"

CM: "I'll take that as approval."

DG: "You match the final draft, not the previous extended ones."

CM: "How many drafts did you write for this chapter?"

DG: "One. I didn't have to rephrase or cut so much. You're lovely when you blush, my dear. Wait! You cut her wanting to paint him nude?"

CM: "Too abrupt. Perhaps, if we work as a team, I'll figure out how to work that in. Read on."

DG: "She convinces him to forego the lashing? That would never happen!"

CM: "There's precedence. A woman named Charity Norton, on the whaler Ionia, prevented her husband from lashing crew. Note than Jane convinces Elijah rather than publicly forbidding it."

DG: "Her ninny husband must have been under petticoat rule! You're researching?"

CM: "Merely looking for precedence, otherwise you'd just bluster at me or give me the cold shoulder. I prefer the bluster because at least we communicate."

DG: "Elijah has a temper, I admit. I suspect aside from argument, she might have used other more feminine and subtle methods to convince him."

CM: "Jane can be blunt at times, and probably respects Elijah too much to stoop to that sort of manipulation."

DG: "So be it; lashing for this incident may be omitted."

CM: "Not all lashing?"

DG: "Perhaps we could prevent a planned mutiny with Sunday school. Madam, I have felt the sting of the lash for far less of an offence. As a captain I did not coddle my crew, but neither was I overly harsh."

CM: "What were you lashed for?"

DG: "Dallying while holystoning the deck. I was slow because I was favoring a bunged up knee."

CM: "That's terrible! Didn't you tell them your knee was hurt?"

DG: "Nor did I ask for a lollypop. I knew better than to offer excuses."

CM: "I'm starting to think life aboard wasn't so romantic."

DG: "The sea itself is like a beautiful but harshly demanding woman. Command puts one toe to toe with her."

CM: "Poor Jane! She doesn't stand a chance, does she?"

DG: "The sea can not love, my dear. On board lonely men pen love letters to the real women they left behind. Elijah learns to love her all the more each day: her words, her actions, even her coddling that ridiculous lizard!"

CM: "Perhaps we could adjourn to the wheelhouse for a leisurely glass of wine."

DG: "We're going ashore next, where fresh water is readily available and Jane and Elijah can have time to themselves exploring the port."

CM: "Hold that thought until next time, Captain. I need a glass of wine and want to hear more about Jane vs. the sea."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Time Together

DG: "Are you ready for Canton, my dear?"

CM: "I am. Jane is a bit excited."

DG: "The harbor itself is carpeted by crafts, English, Dutch, French, American, any seagoing country along with Chinese lorchas, junks, flower boats, and sampans vending everything imaginable, threading their way through, offering their wares. Many natives live on the Sampans."

CM: "Jane and Elijah should go to a flower boat and . . . Captain? What's so funny? Daniel!"

DG: "Madam, there is nothing Jane COULD buy from a flower boat, although as a crusader for women she might convince the . . . ah . . . flowers to rise up against their . . . keepers? Employers?

CM: "A brothel?"

DG: "Exactly. The Williams family locks up the cats in the captain's stateroom. As the cats have become somewhat fierce hunters, they leave them in a separate cabin from the lizard."

CM: "The poor animals! The cats can't go ashore?"

DG: "Any creature that might be deemed edible will remain aboard. Elijah goes ashore with his two mates and hires stevedores to unload the cargo with much bargaining. That done, Elijah finds the perfect boarding house for their stay, one run by a mixed oriental and English family. He fetches Jane and the lads, and the threes' unsteady gait show they have yet to regain their land legs, so accustomed to the ship's rocking are they. They stroll through international crowds, the buildings a mix of English and Chinese with swooping roofs like birds' wings. The vendors ashore attempt to out shout each other in finding buyers- complete chaos! The boys are immediately drawn to the food vendors, and Elijah tells them how fresh and delicious the vegetable dishes are, but the boys crave some thick stew. Elijah pays for it; they have eaten weevils on board, after all."

CM: "That's terrible!"

DG: "The weevils or the possible horse or rat or who knows what meat? It's all protein, my dear."

CM: "I think I'm going to be ill."

DG: "Which is why he plans to bring Jane to the boarding house for their first meal ashore. Beware what food you buy from a street vendor unless you can ascertain the ingredients. Although I must say, the camel meat I once had at a souq was delicious."

CM: "Can we move on?"

DG: "As you wish. Their boarding house has an unusual benefit- a Japanese style bath. Elijah introduces her to washing with mere buckets of water and soap before sinking into an enormous communal tub with water so hot it nearly cooks one."

CM: "Communal?"

DG: "When in Rome, my dear. He warns her others might join them and to refrain from amorous displays. They soak away their cares without company."

CM: "I suppose they next retreat to their room where they indulge in amorous displays?"

DG: "The boys, Madam, don't let Jane forget the boys! Quite keen on amorous displays, aren't you? They all sup together, a marvelous meal of French and Chinese food- the boarding house is run by a connoisseur of cultures. After supper, the boys wild to explore the city, Elijah brings them to a Buddhist temple he remembers with a golden Buddha statue bigger than a house."

CM: "No one tries to steal the statue or chip away at it?"

DG: "The gold it's painted with had been mixed with poison, even the lightest of touches would burn the skin. Bald Chinese priests wear brilliant orange robes and chant while the believers light incense sticks and offer gifts of food. All manner of Chinese people are there, grim soldiers, high born ladies with elaborate hairstyles swaying on bound feet, farmers wearing what look like pajamas. The Williams family walk the gardens- peacocks abound. They watch an orange robed man whistle, and seemingly wild birds land on his outstretched arms."

CM: "Jane needs to paint all this!"

DG: "She does indeed. Perhaps she carries a sketch book to catch what she can? They take two rickshaws back in the evening, Jane noticing glassy eyed men smoking pipes, some drooling, and Elijah tells her how widespread opium addiction is because of the English. After tucking the lads in, they retreat to enjoy each other in a carved mahogany four poster on silk sheets."

CM: "Silk sheets?"

DG: "Silk sheets, my dear. No doubt Jane thoughts stray to her lonely lizard left on the Magdalena."

CM: "What lizard?"

DG: "The next day Elijah informs Jane they'll be going to a dinner party and Cal will watch the boys. He had run into a British merchant he knows."

CM: "A good friend of his?"

DG: "You don't want to know."

CM: "Yes I do! C'mon Captain, give."

DG: "They were acquaintences. They met in a bar and out of pity he gave him mercury for the cure."

CM: "Mercury? The pox? Who gave who the mercury?"

DG: "I see you've been reading my medical handbook. Naturally I gave him the mercury, but I did not administer it. If that particular cure is needed on board, Elijah will administer it, not Jane."

CM: "Good. Did it work? Wouldn't it poison them?"

DG: "It was the best we had."

CM: "Did you ever . . . um . . ."

DG: "I'm shocked! Of course not! I never needed to resort to brothels for feminine companionship! Your question reflects a rather low opinion of me in regard to the fairer sex!"

CM: "I was going to ask if you had administered the mercury cure onboard, but forget it! Who is interrupting who now?"

DG: "Right. I misunderstood. Jane spends the next day blissfully painting while Elijah takes the boys to purchase keepsakes. Elijah buys Jane a teak sewing kit with a carved ivory lid as well as a length of pink silk to do with as she pleases."

CM: "A sewing kit and silk?"

DG: "Her cooking may be abysmal, but her sewing is beautiful. That night at the dance Elijah proudly introduces her as his wife, aware how the men stand a little straighter and attempt to be at their most charming when near her."

CM: "Jane notices the women in their elegant gowns tracking the captain with their eyes. He's hard to miss, handsome, elegant, and more dashing than any other man there. They dance together, and sometimes apart, but even across the room from each other they dance only for each other."

DG: "They take a rickshaw back, and Jane doesn't care if Elijah kisses her on the street."

CM: "Or on her arms, or her neck."

DG: "Lying in bed, he lazily watches her undress, waiting for her."

CM: "She gives him a jade lizard she had gotten for him."

DG: "He's waiting for her, wondering what the significance of the lizard is this time, and how long he will have to wait for her."

CM: "She joins him, so happy to finally feel his kisses, his hands, his body . . . "

DG: "Carolyn? Don't cry; please don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you. I meant these stories as what I wanted for us, not as . . . "

CM: "I'm fine, really. I think I just need a break."

DG: "May I ask what the jade lizard symbolizes?"

CM: "Imagination, creativity, playfulness, all that."

DG: "We'll stop the story, my dear."

CM: "We won't! Or just for the moment."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Utterly Lost

Carolyn jolts awake to find herself jolting along in a rickshaw, Daniel beside her, his arm draped around her shoulders. "Daniel?"

"They weren't the most scintillating company, but I know how you enjoy dancing. All those clods in the guise of gentlemen attempting to charm you were quite amusing." He buried his face in her neck, kissing the tender skin there, his moustache and beard tickling her.

"Are we going to the boarding house?"

He lifts his head, his smile crinkling his eyes. "Is there somewhere you'd prefer, my love? A walk in the moonlight? Perhaps you're hungry and wish to visit the street vendors?"

"No Daniel, I want to go to the boarding house. I've waited a long time."

"I intended for us to leave earlier, but Barnes introduced me to Li Cho, one of the best ivory carvers. Those carvings will be worth quite a bit back home. Even while bargaining with him, I noticed all those overdressed ladies looked ridiculous next to your simple grace, but still I wish I could adorn you in emeralds and rubies." He takes her arm and removes her glove, pocketing it. He kisses her hand and sucks each finger in turn, his teeth grazing her skin. He looks up at her, his eyes both tender and sharp, and she knows she's breathing heavily and blushes. He grins like a schoolboy caught at a prank, and yells something to the man pulling the rickshaw.

Flustered, she asks, "You speak Chinese?"

"There is no single Chinese language. I know a few words of Cantonese. I told him faster."

"I know you did. It's the oddest thing; I feel so shy."

"Shy of me?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. I suppose shy of being alone together, but I want to be, too, Captain."

He squeezes her hand and tells her, "Captain? Are we to be so formal tonight, Mrs. Gregg?"

The rickshaw comes to a halt, and he helps her out and pays the rickshaw man. He takes her arm and escorts her up to their room as she looks around, a little confused. She doesn't recall the black lacquer furniture in the parlor they pass or the paintings on the stairwell wall. In their room, she does recognize the bed though, beautiful wood with red silk sheets. Red? She remembers them as white. She turns and Daniel is undressing, folding each garment he removes. She had not remembered how dark his hands were compared to rest of his body. She stands there watching until he turns and smiles at her, and she's embarrassed to have been caught watching. Her face on fire, she turns, pretending to study a picture of a crane on the wall. He says, "Lovely painting, isn't it my dear?" She hears the bed creaking and turns back to see him stretching and yawning. "I suppose you're worried about Scruffy back on board the Magdalena?"

She smiles. "Scruffy who?" She brings him a jade lizard, saying, "I got this for you."

He takes it from her hand, examines it, and sets it down on the nightstand, saying, "To all the love and laughter in our future? I appreciate it, Carolyn. You realize jade's color deepens with touch? The deeper the green, the more precious it becomes."

She laughs. "Very subtle, Daniel." She undresses rapidly, aware of his eyes on her, hoping she isn't blushing but knowing she is, and climbs into bed. She reaches out and strokes his dear face, whispering, "I'm lost my love. I don't know why but I'm utterly lost."

He tells her, "I was lost before I met you: lonely, angry, and perhaps even a bit arrogant without realizing it." He kisses and caresses her body gently, almost reverently, until she aches with desire and whispers "please."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Why?

DG: "Are you ready to leave Canton, my dear?"

CM: "Not really, but off we go."

DG: "It's an easy place in which to get utterly lost."

CM: "Say that again."

DG: "It's a confusing place, so many languages, so crowded."

CM: "That's not what you said! Why would you do such a thing?"

DG: "I beg your pardon, Madam. Do what?"

CM: "Don't play innocent!"

DG: "Innocent?"

CM: "What color where the sheets in Jane and Elijah's boarding house?"

DG: "Red, just as you typed."

CM: "No! Look! It's right there on the page: white! I'm not a fool, Captain!"

DG: "Blasted sheets! Women fixate on the oddest things. Why are you so angry? I seem to recall you telling me not to stop."

CM: "Captain! Why would you send me a dream like that?"

DG: "Because you cried. Because I'd wanted to for a long time. Because the story I meant to give as a gift had become painful to you. Don't blush, my dear; it was only a dream."

CM: "You took advantage of me!"

DG: "Did I? When I send a dream, I can not usurp a person's free will."

CM: "Do you . . . experience the dreams you send as if you were alive in them?"

DG: "As intelligent as she is beautiful. I do, Madam, and for that I thank you."

CM: "Daniel!"

DG: "Carolyn, yesterday you cried because we could not touch!"

CM: "You don't understand, do you? The dreams, and the story even, could become a sort of opium to me, a dangerous escape from real life."

DG: "I confess I hadn't considered that aspect of it. I intended no injury. I merely wanted to provide a shadow of what I thought we both would have wanted had I been alive. No more dreams, my dear, and we'll stop the story."

CM: "I really am rudderless. A writer doesn't stop in the middle of a story, or shouldn't."

DG: "I seem to recall not stopping was also important to you in the dream."

CM: "Daniel! Stop!"

DG: "Don't blush. I'm the one being spurned."

CM: "I'm spurning the method, not you. Did the dream . . . match those wedding night drafts you kept trying to get me to read?"

DG: "It surpassed them, as I did not have to imagine the noises you'd make, or the taste . . ."

CM: "Daniel! Save it for the next dream!"

DG: "Addict."

CM: "Dealer."

DG: "More like fellow addict. I won't send anymore dreams unless you ask. Far be it from me to confront you with philosophical conundrums about reality until you decide upon your own answers."

CM: "What about the story?"

DG: "Did I ever tell you about the pirate I bested?"

CM: "You have, but not how Jane and Elijah bested him."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Wake Up Call

DG: "This simply will not do!"

CM: "Wha . . . ? Daniel?"

DG: "You've reworked everything we agreed to in this chapter! We agreed that Elijah would battle and best Rotund Rene by himself! Elijah doesn't need the help of the whole crew, and certainly not two women!"

CM: "Please tell me this is some sort of nightmare you're sending me."

DG: "The part in which Jane coats the cargo hold ladder with oil may remain- it's clever and ladylike. However, after one pirate falls and breaks his legs, the others would not follow. Pirates are rather like rats, my dear. If you poison one, the rest know to avoid the poison."

CM: "It's five thirty! I still have time before I need to wake up! Go to sleep or whatever it is you do."

DG: "You have Cal use the very maneuver I myself used to disarm a pistol carrying pirate! Why is she the cleverest one on board?"

CM: "Fine. Rewrite the whole damn thing. I don't care."

DG: "Language, madam! Very well, I shall correct these glaring errors for you."

CM: "Damn, now I'm wide awake! I'll have you know you interrupted a very pleasant dream."

DG: "Madam, please, watch your language. I do keep my word, my dear. I've sent you no dream."

CM: "Captain, believe it or not, I usually dream without any help from you."

DG: "A very pleasant dream you said?"

CM: "A wonderful dream! First I woke up when the alarm rang and then wasn't pushed into writing a sort of fiction. I wrote about things that actually happened to real people!"

DG: "Oh. Considering your creativity, my dear, I'm surprised you have such dull dreams. Throwing a pillow through me is uncalled for; you're quite ill-tempered in the morning! You're the one who left this on my log book with a note asking me to tell you what I thought of the chapter as soon as I read it."

CM: "Where were you yesterday, anyhow? I called for you, looked for you!"

DG: "Personal business."

CM: "So personal you can't tell me, but you feel free to wake me out of a sound sleep?"

DG: "Carolyn, if you'd prefer, we could simply write a book about my life, leaving aside all fiction or wishes. You might even wish to publish it."

CM: "I'd ask you to let me sleep on it, but that might not be something you're capable of. Did Elijah always wake up Jane at some horrible hour?"

DG: "Life on board calls for early rising. As for us, when else have I woken you?"

CM: "When you couldn't find your medals from your Navy years and wondered if I'd taken them. When the milk had gone bad because you worried what Jonathon and Candy would drink with breakfast. When you thought I'd stopped breathing."

DG: "Don't forget when Candy's appendix burst. Also, as I recall, you enjoyed watching the meteor shower."

CM: "I don't suppose you've made coffee."

DG: "You rest. I'll make it and bring you some."

CM: "I'm already awake; I'll make it. You're still not going to tell me what your personal business was, are you?"

DG: "Correct. I shall, however, let you sleep on my offer."

CM: "Which offer? My brain isn't fully functioning yet."

DG: "Fiction or biography, my dear."

CM: "Oh, that offer. I need coffee bad."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Endings and New Beginnings

CM: "Daniel, I want to write the story of your life."

DG: "Jane would have had a daughter."

CM: "A daughter? Not another son?"

DG: "Elijah would have learned how to parent a girl if he'd been there from the beginning. He instinctively knew how to parent boys. Jane would have had her on another voyage."

CM: "She'd give birth on board?"

DG: "Not uncommon among captain's wives. There are some odd superstitions among seamen. A woman on board was considered unlucky, but a birth on board would've been very lucky."

CM: "Poor Jane."

DG: "I would say lucky Elijah and Jane. They were deeply in love, madam, and together they could withstand any weather, fair or foul. As Jane was a rather amazing woman, she may have, on occasion, utilized what she demanded Elijah teach her. If he suffered a bad bout of illness, she might even have commanded in his stead. The crew would have learned to respect her as much as her husband did."

CM: "So she'd live out her life on board?"

DG: "He would have had a house built, much like this one, for her. If he had lived long enough, he might have also had a smaller cottage built somewhere warm for winters. Perhaps on a pacific island or wherever she most preferred."

CM: "Would the daughter be a stormy redhead?"

DG: "No, most definitely a blonde- and he would want to name her Candice."

CM: "It's a beautiful story, Daniel, a tempting story."

DG: "Like an opium dream."

CM: "There is another story."

DG: "My life, I know, my dear."

CM: "The story of a widow who lives with a ghost. She tries so hard to remember he's a ghost, to remember what's possible and what isn't. She's afraid, not because he's a ghost, but because she never expected to feel so much for him."

DG: "He always remembers he's a ghost, even as he loves her and wishes he were a man again."

CM: "Send her a dream, but this time allow her to remember he's a ghost. Send it in the here and the now. Allow her to remember the reality and to know it's a dream."

DG: "Are you asking?"

CM: "Yes."

DG: "As you wish. This way she'll maintain the boundaries she needs."

CM: "Not boundaries, Daniel, truth. I want to be with you as you are, not as you were. The widow loves a ghost."


End file.
